enzyme structures offer clues to microtubule control

Cellular structural filaments called microtubules are made up of units of tubulin proteins. Various enzymes add modifications to and remove them from tubulin units; together, these modifications form a ‘tubulin code’ that controls microtubule function. Structures of an enzyme called CCP5 reveal how it deforms tubulin tails to recognize and remove modifications called single-glutamate branches.